Monday, November 16, 2009

More Cool Costumes!

It's been a while since I've looked at cool hero suits, so let's see how things have fared since last year! Here's my "Best Dressed" collection:

Union Jack

He wears the British flag...and a gun and a knife. He holds his own in a world full of super-soldiers, vampires, and mutants. What more do you need?

This costume has remained relatively unchanged since his introduction years ago in Invaders #8. The person behind the mask has changed 3 times though. There must be something right with the costume to have it last that long.

Yes, I know Marvel has played around recently with some major deviations from the original design, but here's hoping they realize some things just need to be left alone. This is simplicity, and it works.

Ultimate Hawkeye

You have to admit the obvious comparisons to Grifter, but the Ultimate version of Hawkeye really stands out. While keeping the purple color that seems forever linked to the original version, this suit takes the character in an entirely different direction.

He's also given up the bow and arrow for pistols (and basically anything else he can get his hands on). While I'm not too fond of the bullseye on his forehead, the rest of the suit looks good.

Moon Knight

Ok, so he may be Marvel's answer to Batman, but the dude looks cool. The complete opposite of Batman's dark colors, Moon Knight still has most of Batman's toys. He has crescent darts, a cool helicopter, flowing cape that can help him glide, and all the other nifty trappings of a hero.

Originally the suit had a glider type cape attached to his wrists, but thankfully that went to a full cape very early on and has stayed that way ever since. Otherwise, this is the suit that's been true to the character for 30 years.

Catman

The anti-hero who was once nothing more than a running joke in Batman comics has stepped into his own and become one of the only reasons to read "Secret Six" each month (Deadshot being the only other reason).

I don't know who at DC decided to reboot this character, but they did the job right. They also did a great job on his suit. He looks a lot like Batman in design, but the color scheme and weapon choices make him different enough. The earth tones rock in this one.

The Spectre

Probably the most basic costume you'd see (and definitely the most basic on this list), but still it has a way of being cool. No logo, emblem, or design of any kind. Just basic green and white, but when you see that glow coming off the suit in Alex Ross drawings, or the way Jim Aparo gave him the vengeance look as he took down criminal after criminal in some cold-hearted fashion, you just realized how cool the guy really was.

His look changed briefly when Hal Jordan was the Spectre, giving him sort of a Green Lantern touch to the outfit. Recently he's grown a beard thanks to his current host, but I still think his simple, original look remains the best. The term "actions speak louder than words" could be applied to this hero more than any other on this list. You mess up with him, it's over.